The present invention relates to a cigar cutter for cutting off a tip of a cigar. The present disclosed cigar cutter is similar in the overall outside appearance of the cigar cutter as disclosed in application PCT/US97/16591, internationally filed on Sep. 17, 1997 and which application is incorporated by reference. The cutter has a flat housing with openings which are arranged on a wide side of the housing and aligned with each other, forming a through-opening for inserting the cigar. The cutter further includes at least one flat blade which is arranged in the housing and has lateral sliding surfaces which are guided in an essentially straight path between corresponding mutually parallel guide surfaces disposed in the housing. Also disposed in the housing is a resilient element which is biased against one of the sliding surfaces of the blade. The blade can be operated with a handle or handles to move the blade edge into the plane of the through-opening.
Cutters of this type for removing the tips from cigars are easy to operate and provide an excellent cut. The resilient element provides a slight bias to positively guide the blade. With the slight bias, the blade positively slides on a guide surface while a gap is provided between the blade and the other guide surface of the housing. This prevents the blade from jamming between the opposing guide surfaces of the housing, which would otherwise make guiding jerky. Consequently, only a small force needs to be applied between the guide surfaces of the housing to move the blade.
The cutter is carried by first sliding the blade fully into the housing so that the blade edge is located inside the housing. In this storage position, the blade is secured only by the slight bias produced by the spring. Disadvantageously, the blade can easily slide apart during transporting the cutter. The blade edge may slide into the through-opening causing injuries. For example, if a person carries the cutter in his/her pocket and tries to find the cutter with his/her hand, the person's finger might get caught and subsequently cut.
For safety reasons, conventional cutters have to be carried in a closed case to reduce the risk of injury.
With another known type of cutter, an increasingly stronger force has to be applied to move the blade into the final phase of the cutting operation. The increased force is necessary to positively engage a locking device at the same time the cigar tip is cut. The locking device prevents the blade from automatically sliding apart. Since a user may not always timely increase the force required to move the blade, the cutting process may be easily interrupted. The tobacco fibers are then not cleanly separated. In most cases, a user will then slide the blade fully apart and repeat the cut with a substantial thrust. The position of the cigar in the through-opening may also change during a second cut, so that the cigar is cut at another location. The cigar tip then tends to fray and the cut is not clean.